Ecuador News

Ecuador stops construction of Peruvian border wall

The government of Lenin Moreno is extending its policy of “dialog” across the Peruvian border.

Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa announced that Ecuador was stopping construction of a controversial border wall between the Ecuadorian town of Huaquillas and the Peruvian town of Aguas Verdes. Espinosa, who is in Lima for a meeting of the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, met late in the afternoon with her Peruvian counterpart, Ricardo Luna, and Ecuador’s ambassador to Peru, Hugo Otero.

Peru recalled its ambassador to Ecuador on Monday to protest the wall but decided to return him to Quito following the meeting between Espinosa and Luna.

“We have requested the meeting understanding that it is important to reach a definitive agreement on this matter,” Espinosa said. “We think it is a technical issue that can be solved in the interest of both countries. A linear park or a wall will not end twenty years of peace that has benefited the citizens of our two countries.”

The wall is part of a linear park in Huaquillas and is located next to a canal that serves as the border with Peru. Ecuadorian officials have argued that the wall is part of a project to protect Huaquillas from seasonal flooding but that it also serves as an architectural element of the park. Peru says the wall will divert flood waters into Aguas Verdes and that it interferes with the passage of people across the border.

Michael Berger

It is the height of hypocrisy for Ecuadorians who are for the most part passionately opposed to Trump’s wall to stand by so passively while its own government builds a similar wall. Kudos to Peru for withdrawing their ambassador.

Jason Faulkner

Similar wall? It’s 900 meters along a 1200 km border and it’s waist high across all but 30 meters of its length. It’s a ground retaining wall to support the contours of a riverbank park. How in the world is it a “similar wall”?

Have you even been to Huaquillas and Tumbes? It’s a flat dessert area, no need for a four meter high wall to stop flooding. If it was truly for stopping flooding then why would 30 meters of it need to be 4 meters tall??? You are just repeating the government’s official justification which is a lie; they hoped to damp down opposition with a lie until they could complete the wall at which time, when the mindless masses figured out the truth, it would be to late. The reasoning behind the wall is the same as that behind Trump’s wall; to restrict the free flow of any people or products not specifically authorized by criminal governments.

Jason Faulkner

The 4-meter section is barely 30 meters long. It’s that high because that is the height of the terrain that they are trying to keep in place. Without the retaining wall, it would still be 4 meters high. The other 870 meters could be traversed by a child. Yes, I have been to that border crossing. It’s a pigsty. Ecuador is trying to do a little urban improvement and the useful idiots have come out in force to turn this into something no honest human being would claim it is.

It is the height of keyboard warrior absurdity to feign that this park, which is less than a km long, is similar to what Trump is proposing. There is nothing analogous between a retaining wall designed to keep a riverbank from eroding a park away and a high steel wall thousands of miles long designed to keep people from crossing the border. The customs buildings on both sides of that border have walls. They’re only around 10 meters long, but they ARE walls on a border. I guess if you were an intellectually dishonest ideologue trying to distort reality, you could call it the same thing that Trump is proposing and get away with it, at least to your fellow travelers.

The reality is, if the intent of this wall was to stop people from moving, it would certainly be longer than one km and it definitely wouldn’t be waist high for most of its span. Stop it already. You’re desperately trying to play word games, to what end I cannot fathom. Is this really the hill you want to die on? Maybe you think you’ll win the internet with this nonsense, I really don’t know, but this is the most absurd argument I’ve read in a long time (congratulations, you’ve managed to lower the bar on public discourse). I would have expected this kind of nonsense from he who shall not be named, but I thought you were above this. Maybe you’re just contrarian for contrarian’s sake. It seems you root for anyone and everyone who contradicts the Ecuadorian government regardless of the facts of the dispute. Makes me wonder why you would live in a country you clearly have so much disdain for.

Instead of relying on cherrypicked photos to sell your nonsense, you
could have seen the entire plan which has been available in the public
record for months:

But
then you wouldn’t have any pretext for continuing this asinine
discussion, would you? I get it. You’re bored. This is how you pass the
time. Me too. I’ll be deploying to the field next month so you armchair
generals can argue this silliness amongst yourselves. I’m sure he who shall not be named will still mention me in at least 70% of his comments.

Michael Berger

As far as I can tell all countries on this planet are crap but since Ecuador is one of the very best it is worth fighting for. As for my motivation, well, someday if you meet my daughter maybe you’ll understand.

In page 6 of the report you sent is has a diagram titled “Seccion Tipica de Muro” where it clearly shows a typical section of wall is 4 meters high not 1 meter as you had claimed before. If a 4 meter tall has been needed for flooding then I can’t imagine how bad the flooding in that city must have been up until now!

The linear park excuse is fascinating but the reality is dozens of people have had their lives ruined and buildings bulldozered by the government to make this park.
But why? What is the purpose?
The document you linked to in page two second paragraph calls it an “Intervention” later on they describe the reason for the wall which is just what I said it was i.e. to restrict the free flow of any people or products not specifically authorized by criminal governments.

Anybody can take one look at the diagram at the bottom of page 5 and see that the purpose of the project is to build a wall not a park. I bet now with all the opposition Trump wishes he had proposed to build a “linear park” along the Mexican border!

Your are deploying? I thought you were supposed to be a doctor not a military guy. No reason to apologize for your absense; in a way you are kind of redundant since I could just read the official Ecuadorian government reports myself and they appear to be your only source of information .

edgeof2

No way can compare this wall of Ecuador to the lunacy if a 1500 mile wall between the USA and Mexico. Dialog finding understanding and getting at cusses of is called for. Like the Ecuador wall the proposed USA wall is just a symbol of division solving nothing.

Jason Faulkner

It’s an absurd talking point created by an internet press desperate for clickbait.

Katheryn

In addition to the almost useless US/Mexico wall, what will be done to stop the underground tunnels that run under the wall? My analogy is the same as drugs being illegal but they are everywhere to be had? Same with guns, I have a gun for protection, but if it were illegal, it won’t stop the criminals from getting them. I don’t know; what’s the answer?

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